Category: Resources

Mind mapping is an exercise designed to help students visualize information to recognize relationships among pieces of a whole. It is a way to break down concepts into its relative parts to improve literacy and understanding. Wikipedia gives a good summary and a couple of examples, including one for “Tennis”. Mind maps are created around […]

On August 21st, 2017, a full solar eclipse will pass over the Western United States to the Eastern. Throughout history the solar eclipse has given everyone from philosophers to scientists, astronomers to archaeologists, teachers and students, and everyone in between a sense of wonderment and inspiration. Below is a collection of links and resources from […]

On July 4th, 2017, NPR tweeted out each line of the Declaration of Independence, which caused some misinterpretation of their intentions when Twitter users read some of the lines out of context. This got me thinking how important it is to teach about context during literacy exercises. Quotes, especially online, can often be taken out […]

One of the more interesting collections at the Library of Congress contains the contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets the night of his assassination in 1865 at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington DC. Looking at these items brings up so many questions, including: Why do you imagine that he carried these items? Why was he carrying a […]

Teaching social studies is about learning critical thinking and analysis skills, understanding and utilizing evidence, identifying perspective and bias, and becoming an engaged citizen and active listener. Content is ubiquitous and students can access historical content anywhere with an internet connection from their smartphone or computer. Historical thinking skills are not just for historians, but […]